Aristotle: Above the Mean :: essays research papers fc

Aristotle Above the MeanWith the strict oppression of persuasion by religion and government in the 2nd century B.C.E., its a surprise in itself that Aristotle, a man with such ultra thoughts and whims was able to let his thinking be kn declare to the entire orb (as it was known back then). It is therefore even more surprising that his ideas get down survived these many centuries though books, a medium of create verbally that has a notorious reputation of being burned when both(prenominal)thing in its content doesnt match the current beliefs of the established system of government or the church. We can certainly all be thankful that his ideas have survived thus far because of the tremendous impact that they have had on thought, government, and the way of life throughout the entire world in general. Aristotle was a revolutionary thinker whose ideas have no rival from anyone in his own school of thought.In book Two of Aristotles Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle lets out arguably some of his best work. The idea that in life, stack shouldnt strive to be the best, but instead aim for the middle, or the mean as Aristotle calls it, was something new and innovative not only then, but even to some people today. He further backs his assumption up by provision more than enough examples. To start out, Aristotle first defines what is respectable and what is wild. He does this by providing examples of several things that have both a good status along with a worst side. One example he gives is lawmakers. A lawmaker can have a positive centre on society or a negative one. Judging by the effect his laws have on the people, he is then determined to be both a bad lawmaker or a good one. Moreover, the lawmakers themselves have the power of making people into either good or bad citizens. This is done by instilling either good or bad habits into the citizens through the legislation that the lawmakers pass (Pg. 99). This once again, in turn, dictates whether the lawmak ers themselves are good or bad lawmakers. Aristotles idea of this is (to use a clich) is chastise on the money. Even in todays world, people are judged by their actions. That is to say, if someone does something good in their life, they are considered a good person, conversely, if a person is known for a failure, the people roughly them regard that person as a failure or as Aristotle would simply put it, bad.